USS Preston (DD-379)

USS Preston (DD-379) was a US Navy destroyer that was launched from the Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California on 22 April 1936. The Preston was named for Lieutenant Samuel W. Preston, who was killed in action at Fort Fisher during the American Civil War. The ship's first battle was the Battle of Santa Cruz in 1942 during the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II. On the evening of 14 November 1942, the Preston fought at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, during which she caught fire and was severely shelled. Seconds after she was ordered abandoned, she rolled on her side, and she sank over the course of the next ten minutes, taking 116 of her crew with her.